Assumptions
by Kainos Ktisis
Summary: Tifa's thoughts during the episode in which Cloud and company are captured and thrown into cells at Shinra HQ. Light Cloti. Oneshot


**A/N:** So...my baby (non-literal, of course...aka **IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE**) is giving me a bit of a headache cause I can't decide whether I want to make it more canon or more AU, so that's on a bit of a hold right now. In the meantime, I started replaying the game so that I could get a better feel of the characters/atmosphere again and ran myself into several ideas for one shots. Hence, the birth of this little...whatever it is.

Anyway, I always found it amusing that they toss Cloud and Tifa in the same cell when the Turks caught them at the Shinra HQ. As a result, this is my look at what was going on in Tifa's mind as she shares her cell with Cloud. FYI, my sense of humor in this falls more under the category of wry than laugh-out-loud-I-can't-breathe kind of humor.

**Disclaimer**: I would own FF7, but there's this company called Square Enix and this law that states that ownership rights belong to them. So no. I don't own FF7. Disappointing, I know.

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**ASSUMPTIONS**

You know how they say that to assume makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me"? Well, congratulations to the Turks. They've managed to make an ass out of just plain old me. Or rather, I should say that they've managed to completely and totally embarrass the socks off of my feet. And I like my socks too. But that's beside the point.

The point, oh poor deluded reader who managed to get inside my head, is that they put me in the same cell as Cloud. With one bed/cot/metal foam thing to share. And a toilet that's not partitioned from the rest of the cell in any way, shape, or form. Apparently those idiots don't understand the concept of privacy nor do they understand the awkwardness that can arise from the proximity of such biological differences that exist between a male and female body.

Minor details, of course.

Now, you must understand that my griping is not simply because I'm embarrassed that they stuck me in the same cell as Cloud. Really. These past couple of weeks with him living at our hideout with us has been cause enough for some interesting situations to arise, not the least of which includes one particular incident involving towels, shower curtains, and bubble gum.

Whatever the case, we are both adults. We can deal.

What I really have an issue with is the reason _why_ those Shinra dolts thought that it'd be a bright idea to stick Cloud and me into the same cell. In fact, I would really love to know whether there is some sort of sign on our foreheads that says "put-us-in-the-most-uncomfortably-awkward-and-potentially-compromising-situation-that-you-possibly-can-because-our-lives-are-just-that-fun-to-screw-around-with."

Or "with which to screw around," to be grammatically correct. Whatever.

All this to say that I would not be adopting this façade of nonchalance—with my hands tucked underneath my head, my body stretched across the length of this bed/cot/metal foam thing, and my (sockless) feet tapping nervously in the air—whilst wondering just what is going through a certain blonde's head right now if it weren't for those damnable assumptions.

Why oh why does everyone always see the whole girl and boy grow up together, boy leaves to make a name for himself while promising his childhood friend to be her knight in shining armor (essentially), hometown tragically gets burnt to a crisp, reunited through the odd circumstances of joining a rebel group out to blow up every mako reactor in existence and automatically think romance? Really, it's like a bad plot to a melodramatic soap opera.

Why can't a girl just be friends with a guy she knew from when she was a kid with no strings attached? Never mind the fact that I wouldn't be completely honest if I were to deny all feelings of a romantic sort toward the man in question, but the point is that _other_ people shouldn't go around assuming that we're intimately involved (via putting us in the same cell) when we're obviously not even in a relationship that resembles romance in the slightest way. Yet. (Oh why won't my mind shut up and let me be?)

I'm not sure which will kill me first: that which others assume or the scenarios running through my own overly active imagination.

With a muffled and slightly (only slightly) exasperated sigh, I glance up at Cloud only to find his irritatingly attractive blue eyes studying anything and everything in the cell with great interest; from the cracks in the ceiling to the rust built up along the water pipes, the smallest, mundane thing in the cell seems worth the greatest consideration. Everything except for me, of course. That really does nothing for a girl's self-esteem.

You would think the man would be a little more inconspicuous than that when it comes to avoiding eye contact with someone. Years of training and all he can pull off is that vexing (cute) scratch-the-back-of-his-head thing that he so loves to resort to when he catches my own embarrassed gaze.

Brilliant, Strife. Just brilliant. You might as well have caught me naked in the shower. Oh wait. You've done that already. Note the sarcasm.

My eyes pop wide open as a sudden realization dawns on me. He wouldn't dare…would he?

I glance up only to see him turning away with a furious jerk of his neck. I have a nasty (yet strangely satisfying) feeling that the dark shade of red coloring his face all way down his neck and probably well into that annoying shirt of his that's keeping me from seeing his impressive (to say the least) physique strongly implies his mind was wondering along similar lines as my own.

I'm not sure what surprises me more: the fact that Cloud has just mentally undressed me or the fact that I'm not as angry (and just a little pleased, though you'll never get me to say _that_ aloud) as I ought to be about that same fact.

I clear my throat in an attempt to break the awkward silence. "So…do you think we'll be able to get out of here?"

He glances at me, the red not yet quite completely exorcised from his face. A jerky nod is all he manages for a couple of seconds. When he finally does find that sneaky little voice that is so prone to run away in moments of embarrassment, it's a little higher than usual, almost as if he's over-compensating. As for exactly _what_ he's over-compensating, I'm not sure I want (read: am ready) to go there.

"I'll find a way to get us out."

I nod, knowing that he will. A small sigh fights to escape my lips which I squelch down with all my power.

Cloud Strife: ever the brave one. Ever the optimist.

The snort cannot be contained. Cloud looks at me in slightly pained shock, and I know it's because he thinks that I think that he can't possibly get us out of this predicament, which isn't true at all, but I can't help myself from laughing.

If there's anything that Cloud is, it's certainly not optimistic. Not to say he's always doom and gloom, but somehow the word "optimistic" doesn't mesh so well with his person. Just thinking about him deliberating whether a glass is half-full or half-empty nearly sets me off in giggles again.

"Sorry Cloud. I wasn't laughing at you." He recoils ever so slightly. Real smooth, Tifa. If he wasn't thinking that before, he most certainly is now. "What I mean is that I'm just happy that you're here with me." The shock on his face changes from abhorrence to something akin to (pleased) embarrassment. Oops. I guess that didn't exactly come out right either. Though I suppose it's better than before... "I mean, uh…"

I flounder about for a while, not really sure how to pull myself out of this pleasant little hole that I've dug for myself before surrendering to silence. It's then that I realize it's okay because this is a subject/issue that we'd both rather avoid for the time being.

So it's back to feet-tapping for me and examining the cell for him, but the silence that blankets us is a little more bearable this time around and the tension a little thinner.

My mind wanders from one subject to another, wondering whether there are empty cells that they don't want to waste energy using or if Shinra has really had so many intruders recently that they have no choice but make Cloud and I share a cell. Wondering whether I can honestly say that I'm disturbed by all these assumptions that seem to haunt us wherever we go or if I'm just disturbed that people can so easily see the thoughts buried in my heart that I myself have yet to face.

Most of all, though (and also the safest subject upon which to dwell), I'm wondering how the others are doing.

"I'm sure everyone's okay."

I glance over in surprise.

I hadn't thought that I'd said anything aloud when I realize that I really hadn't. I guess it was one of those moments when he simply knew what I was thinking. I think I should be happy on some level that our relationship has gotten to the point where he knows me so well, but on second thought, I realize that there's really only so much to be thinking about in a holding cell separated from our friends and allies.

Still, I'm touched that Cloud noticed my concern. His gaze is still fixed elsewhere but I notice the little corner of his vision reserved for me. My heart jumps because I suddenly understand that that little corner of his vision, even when it doesn't look like it, has always belonged to me.

Friends or whatever we are (aren't), I know he cares. And it's enough to lift my mood. Just a little.

Assumptions. I guess they're not always all bad.

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**A/N:** So...I was seriously deliberating whether or not to continue on that. I kinda wanted to add how the whole scene with Aeris plays out, but when I started writing that part, I found that there was a distinctly different feel about it (more drama and not as much humor as I wanted). Hence, this is where it's ending for now. Maybe later I'll add the part with Aeris, but in the meantime, this is it. And I know the romance is a little lacking, but that was kind of part of the point.

Anyway, drop a review please! You know I love those. Thanks.


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